Revelation 8: The Seventh Seal and the First Four Trumpets
Revelation 8:1-13
Timothy McKeown
Following the tumultuous sounds of shouting and
singing of the numberless heavenly host of the redeemed found in Revelation chapter 7, there is an ominous
silence in heaven in Revelation 8:1.
Like the first four seals, the first four trumpets
are divided from the final three trumpets. The results of these Trumpet
Judgments are:
1) hail,
fire, and blood, destroying a third of the trees and grass;
2) something
like a mountain burning thrown into the sea, destroying a third of the sea and
its contents;
3) a great
star falling from heaven, destroying a third of the freshwater; and
4) the
darkening of the sun, moon, and stars by a third. As tremendous as the first
four judgments are, the final three come with three woes from an angel,
signifying that they will be even worse.
1 When He opened
the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels
who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
If you
notice, there is nothing that occurs with the opening of the seventh seal,
except for silence, followed by noises, thundering, lightnings, and an
earthquake, then the trumpets. Likewise, nothing occurs with the seventh trumpet,
except for noises, thundering, lightnings, and an earthquake, then the seven
bowl judgments.
Therefore,
some have concluded that the seventh seal is
all seven trumpet judgments combined and the seventh trumpet is all of the bowl
judgments combined. The trumpet is likely that of a shophar, a ram’s horn,
rather than the silver tube called a khatsotsrah, which we would think of
more like a trumpet or a cornet and used more in worship and music (2 Chronicles
5:12-13, 20:28). It was a shophar that
was used to signal judgment, as in Exodus 20:18, “Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes,
the sound of the trumpet (shophar),
and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood
afar off.”
It will be a
shophar that is blown as the final trump shall sound when the Lord will come in
the air over Israel, Zechariah 9:14. “Then
the Lord will be seen over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning.
The Lord God will blow the trumpet (shophar), and go with whirlwinds from the south.”
A shophar brings
fear and calamity: “If a trumpet is blown
in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will
not the Lord have done it?” (see Amos
3:6).
Joel 2:1 said
a trumpet (shophar) would be blown in Israel (Zion) as the Day of the
Lord draws near.
The angels
who stand before God could have very well included Gabriel, who stands in the
presence of God (Luke 1:19), and also appeared to Daniel (Daniel 8:16, 9:21). John
Sinclair wrote “The Eyes of Texas,” and said it would be Gabriel who
“blows his horn”, but with all due respect, the Bible does not say that.
However, the
Bible clearly says that the last trump for the church will sound at the Rapture,
before the Tribulation: 1 Corinthians 15:52,
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.”
Again in 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
Nor are these
trumpets the final trumpet to be sounded before Christ returns to the earth,
because that occurs at the end of the Tribulation (see Matthew 24:29-31). These
sounding of trumpets occur within the seven-year Tribulation Period.
3 Then another angel, having a golden
censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should
offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was
before the throne.
4 And the smoke
of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the
angel's hand.
5 Then the angel
took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.
And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. 6 So the seven angels who had
the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
Another
angel, an eighth, comes with the censer, which was used to offer up burning
coals and incense on the altar within the veil of the holy of holies (Leviticus
16:12). This angel is not, as some have theorized, Jesus Christ, for the
passage does not say that the angel intercedes, but that he offers incense
“with the prayers.”
Only Christ
and the Holy Spirit intercede for us to the Father (1 Timothy 2:5, Romans
8:26). As mentioned earlier, this incense symbolizes the prayers of the saints
(see Revelation 5:8). It should be noted that heaven does not pattern itself
after the earthly, but rather the earthly patterns itself after the heavenly
(see Hebrews 9).
The fire from
the altar represented the testing times experienced by the saints on earth, and
the incense is the prayers that accompany that testing. Verse 5 reminds readers
of Isaiah 29:6, when God’s judgment was mixed with an earthquake, noise, and
thunder in His judgment against the wicked in Jerusalem (Ariel).
7 The first
angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were
thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green
grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded: And
something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and
a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures
in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 Then the third
angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it
fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is
Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water,
because it was made bitter.
12 Then the
fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon,
and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the
day did not shine, and likewise the night.
The first
trumpet mingles the hail (atmospheric) and fire (meteorological) judgments with
the destruction of humans and animals (blood), as well as trees and grass, and
likely other vegetation as well. Many of these judgments are like those of
Exodus 7-11. These plagues are worse than those of the Exodus.
The second
trumpet signals a massive object, to a mountain burning with fire, hitting the
sea. Whether it is a meteor or an object made by God, it is not coincidental.
It may be circling the solar system even now, waiting for God’s precise timing.
The massive tidal waves from such an event will damage all of the ships in the
surrounding area, so perhaps one third of all ships will be in that section of
the sea or ocean. One needs only to look at the “red tide” of the Gulf of Mexico, caused by dead and poisonous microorganisms
which would undoubtedly result from such a catastrophe, to see the application
of this verse. Or it could be that God, who miraculously turned water into
wine, and through Moses turned the Nile River to blood, is able to turn water into
actual blood, either naturally through the bloating deaths of animals of the
sea, or miraculously. This is similar, but different, than the second bowl
judgment in which every creature in the sea dies.
The third
trumpet shows not a mountain but a star, or a bright object. The Greek does not
demand a literal star, but a heavenly object. This object will poison the
water. It is interesting to note that the Russian translation for this word “wormwood”
is “chernobyl.”
The worst nuclear disaster which occurred in the Russian city of Chernobyl in
1986 could be a foreshadow of this deadly judgment. According to the World Almanac,
(2003), the United States
and Russia
have 10,000 nuclear bombs each. Just one of these bombs would create an inferno
that would burn trees, grass, automobiles and buildings within 100 miles of the
detonation (Revelation for Today, Dr.
N.W. Hutchings, pg. 87). This is also like the third bowl judgment, when all
rivers and springs will be affected.
Fourthly, the
sun, moon, and stars will be darkened. On the fourth day of creation, God
created the sun, moon and stars. Now at the end of the world as we know it, the
heavenly bodies are diminished by a third.
This is not the same as Matthew 24:29, which says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” This prophecy from
Matthew will occur after the Tribulation
and may coincide with the fourth bowl judgment or Revelation 21:23 which says
there will be no need for the moon or sun.
You may have
noticed the repetition of “one third”; in fact, I do not think anyone could
have missed it. Why is one third repeatedly mentioned? I am not sure, but I
will attempt to answer that question at a later point of this study.
13 And I looked, and I heard an angel
flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe,
woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the
trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!"
Tim LaHaye
says this warning informs us that “as horrible as the first four trumpets have
been, they will be surpassed in misery by that which is to follow.” (Revelation
Unveiled, pg. 168). The word “woe” or sometimes translated “alas” is
used in seven verses[i]
of Revelation.
Woes are also
pronounced by Christ in His denunciation of Chorazin and Bethsaida (Luke 10:13)
and also of the scribes and Pharisees, whom He calls blind guides and
hypocrites. He also says woe to those with child in the Tribulation (Matthew 24:
19) and of Judas (Matthew 26:24). Four times He says woe in the “Sermon on the
Plain” to those who are rich, to those who are full, to those who laugh now,
and to those of whom are spoken well.
Chapter 9, 10
and 11 speak of the final three trumpets, the seventh is not sounded until Revelation
11:15.
FOUR TAKEAWAYS from the four Trumpets:
1) Before the Tribulation, and all of the chaos that is described in Revelation, at the Rapture, there will be a blast from the LAST trumpet for us, the church. Make sure you will be taken by faith in Christ at the LAST TRUMPET for believers, to avoid the judgments of the seven trumpets. “in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound,
and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52.
2) Our prayers, every one of them, are heard in heaven. If the prayers, made with the incense during the Tribulation, are heard in all of the tumult of Revelation 8, they are also being heard by God in heaven today. The Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself lives to ever intercede for us. “Therefore
He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him (Jesus, our High Priest),
since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25
3) In
the fiery trials we go through in this world and for those who read this in the
times of the Great Tribulation, God’s hand is always on the thermostat, and His
eye is always on the clock. “12 Beloved,
do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as
though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s
sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with
exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
4) No matter how dark the times may seem or even actually literally be, Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way; While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am
the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have
the light of life.’ ” John 8:12
